A historian has rediscovered hundreds of miles of 'lost' 1930s cycleways by using Google Street View.

Carlton Reid has mapped out around 280 miles of protected cycleways built by Britain's Ministry of Transport between 1934 and 1940.

The ministry commissioned some 500 miles of cycle infrastructure to be placed on new arterial roads across the country.

Mr Reid uses period sources, such as local newspapers, to research past projects before scanning Google Street View for lingering traces of the cycleways on the ground.

An online map of his research reveals cycleways dotted across the country, with two locations highlighted in and around Cambridge - Wadloes Road and Newmarket bypass.

Mr Reid said: "Wadloes Road is an odd one, not fitting into the usual pattern. It’s a side road, not really going anywhere, but clearly the local authority deemed the route important at the time.

"I presume the houses along the road were originally council houses. Back in the 1930s the A1303 was the A45 so it was more of a major route – it’s likely there were cycleways on the old A45 linking on to Wadloes Road.

A period map of Wadloes Road in Cambridge (Image: Carlton Reid)

"I have yet to pin down the exact location of the one on Newmarket bypass. Period sources tell me that one was built, but road alignments – and road numbers – flip-flop over time so what I’ve marked on the ground might not be an original location.

"Basically, further research is needed on that one."

Mr Reid, supported by urban planner John Dales and his team, has launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding page to fund the continuation of his cycleway mapping work. So far it has more than £14,000, double the original target.

Wadloes Road in Cambridge (Image: Courtesy of Google)

He said: "Some of the period cycleways are partially or wholly buried, but many are still there, plain as day. Some are so wide and inviting that motorists have long assumed they were built so they could park on them. In this way their original purpose has been lost.

"I’m motivated to keep researching because I want to get to the end, and work out how many were actually built.

"Ministry of Transport records held at the National Archives say there should be 500 miles of them; I’ve located maybe 280 miles of them so far, not all of which could be brought back to life."

Many of the 1930s cycleways were 9-ft wide, kerb-protected and surfaced with concrete

The Kickstarter funding will be used to continue Mr Reid's research work, and then produce plans for local authorities.

"Some have already been in touch, " Mr Reid added. "We’re keen on working with the willing and it’s likely that we’ll be able to restore and revive quite a few miles of cycleways. Critically, we also have to mesh the old cycleways with any new ones.

"The old ones failed partly because the Ministry of Transport stopped building them and it became an ossified, unlinked network."